


It's not hot at all

by elysiontower



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Headcanon, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Panic Attacks, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22185337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elysiontower/pseuds/elysiontower
Summary: Last time Meis saw Gueira was from a television screen, hearing newscasters and police officers talk about him like an outsider, an infiltrator, like he was some Burnish scourge that had been hiding in their midst.As he runs off to find him, all Meis knows he saw was a scared, crying child who didn't know what was going on.
Relationships: Gueira/Meis (Promare)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 61





	It's not hot at all

The echo of footsteps is nauseating. 

Every second without a reaction, without the breath of another person, without even a sign of life in the worn down building, due months ago for demolition, strikes Meis's gut further with the sharp dread that he's too late. 

Each step through the halls, each gaze into the rooms, every agonizing pace up the stairs rips into his chest, clawing its way into his heart with fear on its tail. No matter how loudly he calls, following the trail burnt into the cement, there is no sign of Gueira anywhere.

Until he passes one room: a tattered office space with the door ripped off its hinges that makes him look twice, and he feels it. He feels it emanating that faint red glow, far too unlike any flame he's ever seen, a heat that's far too _human_.

He doesn't call out. If Gueira hadn't replied before, he certainly won't now. So, Meis stands. And Meis listens.

And Meis hears the sobs of a boy curled into himself; the boy who'd been trying so, so hard to hold everything in, only for it to go up in flames at the last second.

In that moment, there's nothing he wouldn't give to wipe the embers from his best friend's eyes, those burning hot-tears that drip down to singe the ground. But he can't, he's only human, he can't touch him-

No. 

That heat emanating from him, blazing like a cry for help, is Gueira's.

The humanity in that call is his.

Gueira's still human too. 

So Meis steps forward, making himself known, and his heart _aches_ the moment Gueira looks up at him. The way he watches, wide-eyed, his entire body tense as he holds his breath, drives that stake further into his heart. 

Those eyes, pouring out so much fear and grief, stare at Meis believing him to be a stranger. An enemy. And he hates accepting that Gueira has every reason to genuinely believe that - he knows. He saw the news reports, the overhead camera tracking that scared, helpless _child_ being trailed by a fucking _tank_ . Watched icy bullets shoot at him until he couldn't anymore, he couldn't sit still in horror, he had to go, he had to ignore his parents' yelling, he had to _find Gueira now._

And now he's found him.

"Gueira…" Meis calls. It hurts to see him flinch, see him shrink into himself when the wall behind him won't let him escape, but he gets it, he understands, and he cannot blame him one fucking bit. Meis knows damn well he'd be doing the same in his position. 

"It's okay, man. I got you." He hates to even talk to him like this, like he's some cornered animal, but that's all he knows how to do. "I'm not going to hurt you or turn you in."

"Don't." No no no, Gueira, please. Let me in. "Don't get close."

Another step forward. "You're going to be okay."

" _No."_ The flames around him grow, spitting back against everything - threat or not. Meis feels the heat clawing at his face, telling him to go away, and every nerve in his body tells him to listen to the flames and their terrified screams but he needs to save them, too. He's not leaving without his best friend.

So Meis surges forward, takes Gueira's blazing hands in his own. 

God. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck it hurts it hurts but he's still holding on, Gueira's screaming but he barely feels himself tell him to _"shut up, they'll hear you"_ before apologizing, cussing under his breath again but he won't let go even when Gueira begs him, says he doesn't want to hurt him, and all Meis can say is that it doesn't hurt at all.

He's telling Gueira to breathe, breathe from your core and count to five, let go, and repeat. Meis isn't sure he can feel his hands anymore. His arms still sting, it's the only sign he still has them, but he holds on anyways because it hurts so fucking much but Gueira _needs_ him, needs someone to ground him and he's the only one who can. He's the only one willing to.

Gueira's hands soften, the flames dim to a glow, and the heat doesn't hurt anymore. It feels safe, like home, the same way Gueira's always felt. Meis pulls up his friend's hand, placing it on his own cheek, and the thought crosses his mind that he wishes he could be held like this more, under better circumstances. This isn't the time.

"You feel me right here, right?"

Gueira nods.

"Focus on me. You're going to be okay. You're not going to hurt me, okay?"

He knows it sounds stupid. 

"Meis, please, you're-"

"I'm fine. I trust you."

He sounds like an idiot.

There's blisters already, skin peeling off, can he even feel anymore? But their friendship, his care and adoration and love for the boy in front of him, won't burn down. He'll make it, if only for him. 

"I'm _scared_ , Meis." Finally, Gueira's letting him in. "I don't want to hurt you. I didn't even want to hurt _them,_ I was tired of getting hurt and I wanted it to stop, they're my only family I can't-"

The heat begins to swelter once again, Meis's cheek burning and the smell of his singed hair is disgusting but he won't pull away, he trusts Gueira, he's still _human._

Meis places a hand on Gueira's cheek, strokes it gently, reminds him to _breathe_ , count to ten, his family is okay. He doesn't mention that he thinks they deserved it - he knows he's bitter, knows how much he resents them for pushing Gueira this far, but knows most of all that right now _is not the time._

"I don't want them to die, I didn't want you mixed up in this." The tears fall again. Meis hangs on regardless. His eye is watering. "I don't _want to die._ "

"I won't let anyone hurt you." He can't keep that promise. It's ridiculous; he's just one teenager, one more child for Freeze Force to shoot down with impunity, Burnish or not, but he's serious. No matter the fact it's impossible, Meis cannot, _will not_ break this promise. He doesn't know what he'll do with himself without at least trying to save his best friend's life. He owes it to Gueira to try. 

Meis doesn't have an answer when Gueira asks why he's going this far for him. Nothing he could say is logical, and everything sounds selfish enough in his head that he can't fathom how it sounds out loud. 

"Why wouldn't I?" is what he settles on. In the end, it's only rhetorical - Meis doesn't expect Gueira to know the answer, even he doesn't have one. All he knows is that he can't imagine making any other decision. 

They have to leave. He can hear the sirens approaching outside, remembers having snuck past the soldiers and tanks to get in, and they may already even be surrounded. Before they get up, Meis pulls Gueira close and holds him. The flames are gone.

**Author's Note:**

> I know Detroit basically confirms that Meis's emo bangs are just because he's emo and isn't scarred under there, but like, just imagine the tender. The angst. So I did and I shat this out in like a few hours while at a 6 hour shift on 2 hours of sleep. Please take me out back and shoot me
> 
> This is like less a headcanon fic and more a hypothetical fic


End file.
